05/03/2019

Washington, DC — The Indivisible Project’s Senior State Policy Manager Jiggy Athilingam released the following statement in response to the Florida state legislature’s passage of SB 7066 today:

“What just happened in Florida is an insult to democracy and spits in the face of the 5.2 million Florida voters who voted to pass Amendment 4 in November. With the compromise legislation that was passed today, the Florida state legislature has undermined the historic initiative, which passed with 65% of the vote, to re-enfranchise 1.4 million returning citizens in Florida.

“For weeks, the Florida legislature had been debating two bills which would have undermined Amendment 4. Due to the incredible advocacy of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, the Senate had made several favorable amendments to its bill; meanwhile, the House had been stubbornly fixated on preventing people from voting. The compromise that emerged last night as an amendment to SB 7066 imposes serious financial barriers to voting restoration and leaves an excessive amount of discretion to the courts. The outcome: only those with a large bank account will regain access to voting.

“Florida Indivisibles will not forget this blatant attack on democracy in their state. Indivisible has been honored to fight in solidarity for this landmark initiative and for a truly inclusive democracy. The fight continues.”

Florida Indivisibles worked in November to help pass Amendment 4 and have been fighting in solidarity this session to protect it, driving more than 650 calls to the legislature in recent weeks and attending numerous committee hearings. Yesterday, Florida Indivisibles drove 10 hours overnight to Tallahassee to lobby their legislators to protect the will of the voters.

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Indivisible.org is a joint website of Indivisible Project and Indivisible Action. Indivisible Project and Indivisible Action are separate organizations.

Indivisible Project is a registered 501(c)(4). Its mission is to cultivate and lift up a grassroots movement of local groups to defeat the Trump agenda, elect progressive leaders, and realize bold progressive policies.

Indivisible Action is a Hybrid Political Action Committee fueled by the grassroots movement to win elections and build local, independent progressive power nationwide.